System and method for repairing a three-dimensional article

Abstract

A manufacturing method is for repairing a damaged three-dimensional (3D) article having a fracture zone which is a site of a broken-off portion of the 3D article. The method includes using a forming tool to form an attachment feature into material at the fracture zone, imaging the 3D article including the fracture zone to provide image data, defining a repair portion 3D body based upon a comparison between the image data and data defining an intact 3D body, printing the repair portion 3D body including a complementary attachment features, and attaching the repair portion to the damaged 3D article through the interengagement of the complementary attachment feature and the attachment feature.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . A manufacturing method of repairing a damaged 3D article having a fracture zone which is a site of a broken-off portion of the 3D article comprising:
 using a forming tool to form an attachment feature into material at the fracture zone;   imaging the 3D article including the fracture zone to provide image data;   defining a repair portion 3D body based upon a comparison between the image data and data defining an intact 3D body;   printing the repair portion 3D body including a complementary attachment feature; and   attaching the repair portion to the damaged 3D article through the interengagement of the complementary attachment feature and the attachment feature.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the damaged 3D article includes a thermoplastically deformable material at the fracture zone, forming the attachment feature includes pressing a heated tip of the forming tool into the deformable material at the fracture zone to form one or more recesses extending into the material of the fracture zone. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2  wherein the thermoplastically deformable material includes a wax material. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the attachment feature and complementary attachment feature have a complementary keying geometry that constrains a location and orientation of the repair portion with respect to the damaged 3D article. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising storing data defining a plurality of different complementary attachment features and wherein defining includes selecting one of the plurality of different complementary attachment features based upon the image data from the fracture zone. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  wherein defining the repair portion 3D body further comprises:
 defining a 3D body of the damaged 3D article based upon the image data; and 
 Boolean subtracting the 3D body of the damaged 3D article from the intact 3D body to define an initial repair portion 3D body. 
 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6  further comprising forming a Boolean union between the initial repair portion 3D body and the complementary attachment portion to define the repair portion 3D body. 
     
     
         8 . A kit for repairing a damaged 3D article having a fracture zone at which a portion of an intact 3D article was broken off comprising:
 a forming tool for forming an attachment feature into material at the fracture zone;   an imaging device for capturing an image of the damaged 3D article including the fracture zone;   a non-transient media storing software instructions which, when executed by a processor, perform the following steps:
 perform a comparison between the image of the damaged 3D article and an intact 3D body defining the intact 3D article; and 
 define a repair portion 3D body based on the comparison and including a complementary attachment feature for engaging the attachment feature when the repair portion is assembled to the damaged 3D article. 
   
     
     
         9 . The kit of  claim 8  wherein the forming tool includes an integral heating unit attached to a heated tip, the heated tip defines a geometry of the attachment feature when it is pressed into the fracture zone. 
     
     
         10 . The kit of  claim 8  further comprising a separate heat source for warming a tip of the forming tool. 
     
     
         11 . The kit of  claim 8  wherein the attachment feature and complementary attachment feature have a complementary keying geometry that constrains a location and orientation of the repair portion when it is assembled to the damaged 3D article. 
     
     
         12 . The kit of  claim 8  wherein the forming tool includes a plurality of different forming tool tips and/or complete forming tools to allow a selection from a plurality of different attachment feature geometries to be formed into the material at the fracture zone. 
     
     
         13 . The kit of  claim 12 , wherein defining the repair portion 3D body includes selecting a complementary attachment feature from a plurality of different complementary attachment feature geometries based upon the selected attachment feature geometry. 
     
     
         14 . The kit of  claim 8  wherein defining the repair portion 3D body includes:
 defining a 3D body of the damaged 3D article based upon the image of the damaged 3D article; and 
 Boolean subtracting the 3D solid body of the damaged 3D article from the intact 3D body to define an initial repair portion 3D body. 
 
     
     
         15 . The kit of  claim 8  wherein defining a repair portion 3D body further includes forming a Boolean union between the initial repair portion 3D body and the complementary attachment portion. 
     
     
         16 . A system for repairing a damaged 3D article having a fracture zone at which a portion of an intact 3D article was broken off comprising:
 a forming tool for forming an attachment feature into material at the fracture zone;   an imaging device for capturing an image of the damaged 3D article including the fracture zone with the attachment feature;   a 3D print engine; and   a controller including a processor coupled to a non-transient media storing software instructions, execution of the software instructions by the processor cause the controller to:
 define a 3D solid body of the damaged 3D article based upon the image data; and 
 define a 3D body of a repair portion based at least partly on a difference between a 3D body of an intact 3D article and the 3D body of the damaged 3D article, the repair portion including a complementary attachment portion. 
   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16  wherein defining the 3D body of the repair portion also includes determining the complementary attachment portion geometry based upon the image of the fracture zone with the attachment feature. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 16  wherein defining a 3D body of the damaged 3D article based upon the image of the damaged 3D article; and
 Boolean subtracting the 3D solid body of the damaged 3D article from the intact 3D body to define an initial repair portion 3D body. 
 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 16  wherein defining a repair portion 3D body further includes forming a Boolean union between the initial repair portion 3D body and the complementary attachment portion. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 16  wherein the controller operates the 3D print engine to print the repair portion.